Race Report for Late Trophy 1 & 2

Warm sunshine and a steady force 3 to 4 south-easterly wind provided ideal conditions for the first two races in the Dell Quay Sailing Club Late Trophy series.

A good turnout of boats provided some competitive racing in the Solo fleet, which kept together for much of the course with some fast reaches as the wind picked up. A tricky beat from Bowling to Copperas East favoured those boats which made best use of the tide on their approach.

Bill Dawber and Malcolm Buchanan dominated both races, taking first and second place in each race. David Maltby took third place in race 1 with Nikki Buchanan coming third in race 2.

Current series placings are Bill Dawber 1st, Malcolm Buchanan 2nd and David Maltby 3rd.

The Handicap fleet attracted a wide range of boats including the Laser 2000 of David Ellis and his crew, as there were insufficient 2000 entries for a separate class race.

The start line favoured a port end start which resulted in some confusion on the line but all managed to get away without a recall. Both races were led on the water by the faster boats, with the RS400 of Rob Corfield and Chris Campbell in first place followed by the Finn of Andrew Buchanan and the Fireball of Mike Dicker In third position.

When adjusted for handicaps the top places in the first race were all taken by the slower boats, with the Topper of Tom Bettle first, Beckie Manning in her Laser second and the Miracle of Simon and Linda Bell third. In the second race the first 2 places remained unchanged with Andrew Buchanan taking third place.